Mooning over Qibli (& vice versa)
by Anurin
Summary: Set after DoD. Qibli left JMA at age seven. Moon is turning seven. Qibli visited JMA once every 2 weeks. As he tries to get there, he takes a stop, but what happens at the academy is more important. moonbli-heavy fic. also some mentions of the LC. there is a bit of cleril and turtlejou in the background, too
1. Leaving the Palace

**ur single** **existing moonbli fic. ACTUALLY IN CHARACTER for once. Set after Darkness of Dragons.**

 **This is assuming Moon doesn't have some Lost Continent prophecy. The LCD visits Thorn, Jerboa comes too, they introduce themselves, and a squadron of 21 dragons from each tribe go. one seawing comes back after 2 and a half years, says that there is a language barrier, along with the tribes' appearances, abilities, and a bit on their societies. A lot of theorizing, a lot of recent scrolls on it, part of Webs's history lessons and occasionally in small-group discussion classes. Thats it. nothing else. no adventure (most likely. I might turn the story in a different direction later.)**

 **I edited and went into more depth on this chapter, so u may wanna reread it**

The story takes place some time after the epilogue. 3 years, let's say, so Moon is an adult now. Qibli went back to JMA, after moon and thorn convinced him. He left after he finished that year and the next year, though, because he insisted that he wasn't a dragonet anymore so he had to serve Thorn. Qibli still visits moon tho.

Qibli's Point-of-View

Today is it.

Qibli's mind was on overdrive. He couldn't see the future, but from the way Moon described Clearsight, he was sure extreme panic could produce something similar.

 _Stop it,_ he berated himself. _This is NOT the time._

The SandWing went over to see Moon every two weeks. Thorn had arranged it so nothing could interfere with his time with Moonwatcher, as she called it "checking up on the 'cademy". After he spent around at the Academy, he would go to Sanctuary, then the Rainforest, both villages, then loop around to Possibility, and return the former Outclaw's new stronghold-palace thing. He did the ambassador job once a month, however. The other time he went there during the month, it was just Jade Mountain.

Qibli walked over to his desk. The SandWing opened the bottom desk drawer. There was a pouch with a black leather cord. In it held his skyfire and his old library card. He picked it up and swung tied it around his neck.

He needed tell Thorn that he was leaving. Just after that thought, he remembered something. Thorn was at the Scorpion Den, checking up on the city she once ruled. _She still does, though. Just not as nearly as hands-on anymore. We didn't even know Grandfather took control of the city._

He flew over to Six-Claws, who was flying with Smolder over the Succession Courtyard, as it had been dubbed. As Qibli got closer, he heard Six-Claws saying, "What about Lazulite?"

"Now you're throwing just anything that comes off the top of your head. We're talking about a _dragon_!" Smolder was angry about something, or rather irritated. His mocking, sarcastic tone was almost nonexistent.

 _Oh,_ Qibli realized. _They're talking about the egg._ Smolder and Thorn had an egg about 4 months ago. He never really got why Thorn liked Smolder in that way.

The SandWing approached the two conversing, or maybe arguing, dragons. "Hey guys." He nodded to each of them. "I'm leaving to go see M-" Six-Claws started snickering, even though he was full grown dragon. " - to see the Academy."

Six-Claws regained his composure. "Okay, Qibli. Don'-" Smolder cut him off, "accidentally stay too long and miss the meeting with Glory because of your _GIRL-_ _friend._ "

"You have a mate yourself, so why are you mocking me?" The snout-scarred dragon pointed out.

Smolder changed the subject rather quickly, "Well, you must be leaving. Bye!"

Qibli threw him an odd look before spreading his wings and soaring above them, sailing toward the Academy.

After some time, he saw a messy attempt at walls and firelight in the distance. The sun was setting, but the SandWing assessed that he could get there by nightfall if he went just a bit quicker. Sure enough, he arrived, but he didn't get inside because of the "Halt!" from a large dragon coming to him from an entrance. Qibli was surprised they put guards back up. _Grandfather changed it in a few months,_ he corrected himself. _It should only take a few months to get it back to normal, too._

"Who are you?" The SandWing smirked, as if she had found her long-awaited prey.

"Qibli, trusted advisor of Queen Thorn," he replied, matching the guard's expression.

The guard moved aside, smirk quickly disappearing. She made a gesture with her wings, as if "go ahead, walk through."

Qibli stepped through the gates, and what he saw genuinely surprised even him.

 **chapter one! Hoped you liked it!**

 **the rating is "T" so it would show up in the general ratings. In a later chapter, it might switch over to "M", as in, ya know, lemon, so keep watch for that! I'll have a link to a SEPARATE story. The chapter page will be the link (with a warning, if course) and I'll continue on with the other chapters after that.**


	2. Scorpion Den

**None of the characters that I included that weren't in the books aren't my OCs, just characters for Qibli to talk to (and relate to Scorpion Den life, as with Sear.)**

Qibli's POV still

Qibli strode into the city. There was a small shock. It was back to normal, but better!

His once-home still had the markets, the cactus juice, the loud noise, and the sounds of fighting. But everyone looked well-fed. The streets were clean. There wasn't a grime-covered dragon lying on the ground. It was marvelous.

Looking into the alleyways, he didn't see any wounded, which was odd. _Maybe Thorn head about my idea about the compound! Nobody heard about my idea except Cobra, Ostrich, and Winter, though. I guess Ostrich told her father._

Qibli flew into the air, wheeling around to see Grandfather's old compound. Finding it, he flew over. The SandWing flew to the previous "throne room". The jewels and gold that had been everywhere was gone. Qibli figured it was to pay for something, or was stolen. When he went in, he figured it out. He saw a bunch of dragonets playing and fighting. Qibli's heart seemed to be trying to burst out of his chest. _Look at them! They're clean! I can't see any bones through their scales!_

After that, he noticed that there were, in fact, a large amount of hybrids. There was a white SandWing with no barb, but had neck spikes and a thin tail. There was a golden MudWing. He saw a orange dragon he assumed was part SkyWing, judging by her wing size and color, but had a somewhat mudwing-like face and a bulky body.

Then, he saw, in the background, other dragons, some hybrids, too. All were sitting in groups, playing a dice game, a bone game, talking, or watching the dragonets that were fighting, seemingly betting on them. Most were adults, but some were barely past dragonethood or some were still dragonets. They all had something in common, though; they were all injured in some way. One had only one wing, one was missing half her tail.

 _They can still sell goods at the market, can't they?_ After that thought, he counted the veteran amount. Twenty-three. Since Qibli had walked through the markets earlier, he realized these dragons had the worst of the injuries. The SandWing decided to walk up to the dragons playing dice.

"Hello. Does this place serve as the main orphanage?"

The youngest dragon there, maybe about 8, answered Qibli. "Yeah, an' we live 'ere, too. Anythin' else ya gonna ask?"

"Yep. When did you guys start living here?"

This time, another dragon answered. This one was the dragon missing a wing. " 'bou' a year ago."

Qibli thanked him and walked out, spread his wings, and flew towards the oasis. There he would find Thorn, or at least directions to where she was.

As Qibli glided down, he saw someone, and landed next to her. "Hey, do you know where Queen Thorn is?"

The SandWing narrowed her eyes. "No 'Hi, I'm So-and-So, sorry to bother you, give me a reason to direct you to the Queen's tent? You could be an assassin!"

Qibli chuckled. "Hello, I'm Qibli, I was one of her most trusted Outclaws, now one of her advisors. It's nice to see you worry about the Queen. Sorry to bother you. What's your name?"

She replied, "Good reason. My name is Brande. But I know you didn't come for small talk. It's where her old tent was. You should know that."

"Okay, thanks!" Qibli flew away, towards Thorn's tent, which was white. He dropped down, and "knocked" on the tent flap.

"Hey, it's me, Qibli. I was wondering if I could stay here on my way to Ja-" The tent flap opened, with Armadillo the opener.

"Hi, Qibli. You're always welcome. You can stay only this night, though. There isn't much room. Wait, I just said something hypocritical."

"Yeah, you did. Don't worry, I just need somewhere comfortable to sleep. That's all." Qibli walked in, found a place to lie down, and started sleeping after only a few minutes.

The next morning, Qibli woke up to Thorn poking him. "You could have told me that you were here, at least. Geez, sometimes I wonder if you have any common sense at all."

"Yeah, okay, okay," he responded groggily, getting up. "I'll do better next time. I was tired though." Qibli looked up. "Also, there's something I want to ask you. Erm, away from other dragons. Please."

Thorn gave him a questioning look. "Okay, sure. In the back of the tent."

They walked to the back, out of earshot of the others. Qibli stated, "I, uh, want to ask for permission, then some a question.

"Permission for what?"

"After my meeting with Glory, can I go back to the Academy? Not as a student, but stay there for a week instead of coming back to the palace like usual."

"Sure, if my daughter has room. And the question?"

"At a dragonet's seventh hatching day, they won't be considered a dragonet anymore, right? But with NightWings, they didn't let dragonets onto the continent until they were ten. You knew Stonemover, so can you tell me which is true? I never asked Moon about that."

Thorn thought about it for a bit. "They weren't part of the war. This meant they had much more time for education, which nobody had much of, except royalty, the Dragonets of Destiny, and a few rich Scorpion Den or Possibility residents. So they had school, which took up a lot of time, plus they had those NightWing-fake-it courses, but that wouldn't add up another 3 years. Fierceteeth tried to be queen at age 9. There is also the fact the tribe was on an island and they had to be trained to keep all of those secrets, no matter if they have to die to keep it. That takes a lot of time. Now that they're out, I would say NightWings aren't considered dragonets anymore by age seven, like most dragons. I still don't see why we needed to be out of earshot, though."

"Okay, thanks for your answer. I was going to say something else, but decided against it. I'm going to leave for Jade Mountain now. As in, now. Bye!" Qibli walked out of the tent.

 _I need to get a gift for Moon's hatching day. The markets don't exactly sell those types of goods, however. I might as well look, though._ He walked through the streets. As he passed an alleyway, a familiar face came out of it, tackling him in a play-fight manner.

"Sear!" She had not been an Outclaw, but had been one of Qibli's few friends while he suffered with his siblings and Cobra, and still while he was living in the Scorpion Den.

"Hey! Long time, no see! Hear ya've been staying in tipity-top palace rooms doin the Queen's bidding!"

"Yep! It seems like usual here. Anything happen important to you while I've been away?"

"Yeah! I'm rich! From orphan, to donating to them! My business partner shares the house me, though. She and I are mates, though, and not the roommate kind. You see, how we made our fortune is interesting. When Vulture took over the place, Brande and I started gambling a lot. I mean A LOT. With the underground aboveground, we had more freedom on this. We saved our combined money and bought 2 run-down houses. Wee fixed them both up, though, and sold up. 'Flipping' is the fancy term, as we learned from our neighbors. Neither of us had a home, then, and we were sleeping in this here alley I cam out of." She pointed to the one she came out of. "However, we made money from those two sales and bought 3 rundown houses. We fixed them up, still living in this here alley. After that, we started haggling prices and selling them for higher, after adding some so-called "curb appeal". After living in the alley for so long, the two of us started getting tight. By this time, Vulture had mysteriously disappeared. Still don't know what happened. Anyhow, we ended up buying the alley from the owners of the two buildings. In the shadows, there are doors, and the inside is unbelievable. You could see the doors easier if the sun wasn't behind those buildings. Anyways, why are you up so early?"

"I'm here to get my friend a gift. Her hatching-day is next week. She attends Jade Mountain, so I have to buy here. I need to get to the stands before what I want is snatched."

"Oh. See ya! Soon, hopefully. Bye."

Qibli continued walking to the market square. That was the most likely place to find something that would qualify as a gift.

As he saw dragons setting up shop, he secretly reveled in the fact most wore his earring. Even though Darkstalker was long gone (kinda) most wore his earring out of paranoia that they had cast a spell that still lasted. Little did they know that Kinkajou had used the scraps of paper of talisman to remove all the spells that the general populace would deem bad, in those exact words. This left the Dreamvisitors intact, but "Darkstalker's Teeth" and the IceWing plague were ineffective. That didn't mean the earrings were taken off, though.

He strolled around thee square, thinking, _What would Moon want? Something green, probably._ Moonwatcher's favorite color was green, but dark green, which Qibli noted to be the around the color of her eyes. This was extremely convenient for jewelry, as it would match her eyes. Last year, for her sixth hatching day, he got her a jade-colored bracelet, "to match our winglet". For her fifth, Moon had received some green earrings. This time, though, Qibli was going to be inventive, outside of the box. What he got was still going to be green, though, or at least partially green.

Qibli saw something green that wasn't a cactus. It turned out to be some paint. _What if I painted a portrait of her? No,_ he dismissed, _she wouldn't like that. She wouldn't like something of herself. I could try to do the rainforest floor, where she grew up. Maybe I can ask one of the NightWings at the Academy, or I could ask Glory where her mother is. She would know. I have to talk to Secretkeeper anyway._ Qibli had decided that he was going to paint. Well, maybe not him, but he would at least try to help out. Qibli didn't want the painting to look like a sludgy green lake, so he needed help. A lot of it.

The SandWing approached the stall with the paint. "Must not get much business, do you?"

The stall owner smiled, "Surprisingly, I do. I make the paint from brightsting cactus, which most don't realize you can do. My partner" she lifted her wing to gesture to the jittery male on her right, and Qibli saw that her tail barb was cut off, in it's place a bloody stump. She continued on, "makes and sells the antidotes, I make paint. I get business from parents who want to give their kids a gift, or from dragons who make green ink from my paint. I don't understand how they do it, but they do. So, what do you want to buy?"

Qibli pointed at a lot of different shades. "All of those, please."

"Whoa, that's a lot. You have the money for that?"

"Yeah," Qibli sighed, then muttered, "I better get reimbursed by the academy for that."

"Wait, you go to the Academy?" The SandWing asked. "My son has been wanting to go there since that earring SandWing who ended the battle left two years ago. It went to someone else, though. Are you the someone else? Or a dragon who has been there since opening? Why aren't you there?"

Qibli responded with a chuckle, "I am 'that earring SandWing.' Is that how I'm known? I visit the Academy to check up on it twice a month, so I occasionally get supplies so the teachers don't have to leave. They're running short of supplies on the art cave. What's your son's name and age? I'll tell Thorn - Queen Thorn - about him. Pronghorn is leaving after this year, so your son might get the spot."

"Okay, it seemed really unusual to get so much bought at a time. His name is Pharaoh, he's 4, and thank you. I really appreciate it." The SandWing gave Qibli the paint jars. "Bye."

Qibli left, walking fast-paced to the nearest gate. He went out and spread his wings. Jade Mountain was about three hours away. Soaring high into the sky, he flew southeast toward the academy and Moon.


	3. Academy & Prepping

**Mire is my guess on the name of the new MudWing new clawmate. the books had nothing on her, so im making her up.**

 **Moon's POV. it takes place during the same time as chap 2/scorpion den.**

There was a gong sound. _Morning already?_ she thought. The grogginess of her peer's thoughts filled her head. She used the raindrop method.

Kinkajou was getting up, ever so slowly, but Mire was still snoring. Moon poked her with her wing. "Get up, ya sleepyhead. We have a day of classes ahead of us."

Mire got up, groaning. Kinkajou was helping her up, talking about how Webs was finally getting on to the Lost Continent theories, long-awaited since the return of the SeaWing messenger. First, however, was breakfast, which meant going to the prey center. Kinkajou walked off to get fruit, so Moon and Mire went for the chickens. They caught three, so Moon walked over to Peril, who was talking to Clay, and gave her the third chicken.

"Thanks!" Peril called as Moon walked back to Mire, who was devouring her chicken in a way no IceWing would ever approve of. This is definitely true, as Changbai was walking past Mire at that moment, muttering "MudWings."

Mire heard, of course, and shouted outraged, "Oi! Haughty IceWing!"

Suddenly, other MudWings, along with SkyWings and SandWings, started saying, "Haughty IceWing!" or "Stuck-up IceWing!" or "Oh-so-special Second Circle!" and the like, throwing bones or chicken feet or goat horns at Changbai. Moon chuckled in the background. After a while, the MudWings and SkyWings got fed up with the "grumpy SkyWing" and "stupid MudWing", So they ganged up on the IceWings, so that whenever they said something like that (although only something about their own tribes) the IceWing would get something thrown at them. The IceWings would sit there and watch, giggling and teasing them about it later. The SandWings joined in because they just liked throwing stuff.

"Hey!" yelled Changbai, "Stop!" He shook off the bones stuck in his ruff and walked over to his guffawing tribemates. _They won't throw bones after the prank next week,_ Moon heard from his brain.

Moon walked over to Mire. "You enjoy that, don't you?"

"Yeah. It's funny to see their faces. Besides, I heard them talking in the library, they're planning a prank on us anyway. Its at an entrance to a cave."

"Okay. I'll watch out, too. We need to get to class, anyway. As per today's history lesson, we also have the Lost Continent in small-group discussion class today! It will be so interesting to hear what everyone else thinks."

"Mm-hmm. Lets get Kinkajou." They walked over to her. "We need to get to class."

"Okay," Kinkajou sighed. "Bye forever, precious mango.

"Oo! I have an idea!" Kinkajou's scales camouflaged. "Time to scare Turtle. Maybe a scare-hug. That will be interesting."

"Bye, then," Moon said as Kinkajou disappeared. "Lets walk up to Turtle to see his reaction."

The two friends bounded up the halls to see Turtle talking to Peril. She was saying, "What do you think?"

Turtle replied, "You'll see. When class starts." He noticed them. "Oh, hey guys! we were just discussing what we thought of the Lost Tribes, since we're gonna talk a lot about it to - OI!" His chest, neck, and head were gone. Empty space.

Moon didn't know what was going on, but then remembered Kinkajou's prank. Mire congratulated, "Nice work, Kinkajou!"

"Thanks!" The shape of a yellow ruff was coming into view. "I got youuu!"

Turtle's voice, muffled behind Kinkajou's wings, announced, "Yes. Could you let me go now?" He was released.

The dragons filed into the classroom, where Tsunami was there, along with Xerocole and Beyaz, who were smirking at them.

"So," Tsunami's voice filled the room, "There has been little discussion of the Lost Continent and the Lost Tribes in any class. Since the lesson is today and tomorrow in Webs' class, my class is, too. Lets start with appearances."

"I think that it's weird that none of them look like us," piped up Xerocole. "Shouldn't one of them be closer than the others? The SeaWings have the occasional purple-ish dragon, but these ones dont even li-" he was interrupted by Sunny, who asked Tsunami, "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but can I borrow Moonwatcher?"

"Sure," replied Tsunami. Moon got up and followed Sunny out of the classroom.

"What am I supposed to be doing?" Moon asked the same time Sunny stated, "You might wonder why I took you out."

"Go on," encouraged Moon.

"You volunteered to prep rooms for Qibli and Lynx when they visit us." Sunny explained. "They're coming later today, so you need to do their rooms."

 _Qibli's coming today!_ Moon thought excitedly. _Lynx, too._ Lynx had turned out to be very nice, Moon considered the themselves friends. "Okay! Did you switch up the caves again, or are they in the same place as last time?"

"Different. It's pretty long from here though. I just remember the directions to give _them._ From the entrance hall, take a left, then a right, as if you're going to the library, but pass it when going down the corridor, and continue until you get to a cave with a moon globe over the entrance. It's pretty small, but there are entrances to 3 medium-sized caves. Here's 5 moon globes, but one in the center cave, and 2 in each personal cave, okay?"

"Okay, Sunny." Moon walked through the halls, into the cave Sunny had described. taking a moon globe out of her pouch, she looked around. flat walls, so she could stick some parchment there with the sappy glue RainWings made. The NightWing looked into the other two rooms. One had a ledge, and one had a basin, which was probably why Sunny picked the spot.

Moon made a list in her head of the materials she'd need. Two bags of sand, Qibli's tent material. A thin layer of blankets. Parchment and glue. She walked over the storage room and got the materials, dragging them back ever-so-slowly. She emptied the sand into the basin. Then she cut the bags where the stitches on the sides were, using the glue to put them above the doorway as curtains. She put the tent material hanging from the ceiling on two sides of the basin, to remind him of the Outclaw tent.

Moon put the thin blankets on the rock ledge, putting her Lynx's two globes on the ledge. She lay 3 sheets of parchment on the blanket, for Lynx to write on.

Running back into Qibli's room, she grabbed the remaining parchment pieces, using a moon globe as a paperweight. The other, Moon put on the sand.

The mind reader walked over to Sunny's cave. Class was still going on, she noticed. As Moon saw Sunny, she announced, "I'm done."

Sunny turned toward her, "Okay. Qibli's supposed to come here first. He should be here in the next fifteen minutes, so you might want to go to the welcome area."

"I'll be there."

Moonwatcher walked out of the school onto the place she watched students enter on her first day, so long ago. Life was much more interesting back then, with Darkstalker and the prophecy. Now, not so much. She taught mind readers how to keep the voices out, when they were hatched, if Mindreader couldn't. That was all, really.

Lost in thought, Moon didn't see the pale yellow shape until she heard him call out, "Moon!

Pulling her head out of the clouds, she responded gleefully, "Qibli!" and held her wings out for a hug, or maybe a tackle.

Turns out it was a hug, but he almost knocked Moonwatcher backwards. "Missed you," he said.

"You too, Qibli. Glad to have you back. You'll be glad to hear that IceWings get a daily pummel with whatever's near the SkyWings or MudWings. The SandWings join in too, to throw stuff, so you'll fit right in." She broke the hug. Want me to show you your room, or do you want to eat first? Lunch is soon, so you might want to get there quick while you can."

"I'll eat," responded Qibli, grinning. "But it needs to be quick, so we can wait for Lynx. We never know when she's going to come."

"Okay. Let's eat," declared Moon as they walked into the academy, side by side.


	4. They Arrive!

**I find it incredibly** hard **to write in Moon's POV, for whatever reason. So the Moon chapters will take longer to be published.**

 **Sry it took so long!**

Moon's **POV.**

After a quick lunch, the couple left just as the other dragons came flooding in. They scurried out onto the welcome platform, sat down, and waited in comfortable silence, scales touching.

Eventually, Moon saw a dragon emerge into the sky, away from the camouflage of the clouds. She glided down and landed right in front of them. "Hello," the dragon said.

"Hi, Lynx! Welcome back. We need to check you in with one of the Dragonets or Webs or Fatespeaker, then we can go to you two's rooms. It's different this time, by the way," Moon informed her.

"Class is on now, so don't be too loud. I doubt you'll find much to eat, as lunch was just now. You can hunt in the mountains if you want, I suppose," Qibli added on.

"Let's go, then," replied the IceWing.

The three walked to the library, as Moon had said that it would be shorter to get to the rooms than interrupting a class. They arrived, and they discovered Fatespeaker talking avidly to Starflight on something. After an "I'm here" type of cough from Qibli, Fatespeaker noticed the trio. "Oh, hey guys. Starflight, it's Moon, Qibli, and Lynx."

"Oh, Lynx. You're not here enough for me to remember your footsteps. Walk around a bit, please," Starflight requested. Lynx did as he asked. "Oh yes, the IceWing gait. Moving your talons up more and placing your claws down before the rest of your talons."

"Whoa," Lynx said, astonished. "It's really neat that you can distinguish tribes by their gate."

"Oh," Starflight responded, smiling in Lynx's direction. "Thank you. IceWings and SeaWings are easiest to distinguish, your tribe because I believe you are taught to walk in that manner, and SeaWings because of their webbed talons. The skill comes from spying on the minders when we lived in the cave, along with my senses getting better since I was blinded."

"This would have been useful during the war," Lynx said under her breath. "Anyways, Qibli and I came to check in and tell us that we're here. So we'll be off to our rooms now." With that, she turned around and walked out of the library, Moon and Qibli treading behind her. As the IceWing turned right, Moon exclaimed "Turn around!"

"We're turning around? Nothing is back there," Qibli stated.

"Yes, there is. See the moon globe? Walk to there," she ordered Lynx.

The trio approached the entrance to the center cave. "Qibli, you're on the right. Lynx, you're on the left," Moon told them.

Moon followed Qibli into his cave. "I asked Thorn for some tent wall pieces, to match the tent you slept in as an Outclaw." _Hope he likes it. I had to sneak around Qibli in his own home to get it, and that wasn't too easy._

Qibli's face lit up. "Really? Thorn went out of her way to do that for me?"

"Yep. I asked her if I could get anything to make you feel more at home, so she suggested the tent material." Moon answered.

"Thanks," Qibli responded, pulling her in for a quick hug, "I really appreciate it. How did you get out of the Academy long enough to get to Thorn's stronghold? You said you asked her personally, so that must have been a long flight."

"I caught the Queen when she was touring the Outer Oasises. It makes her a great queen to be visiting her subjects. She brought along a small tent, so she roped some of it off and gave it to me as a surprise for you."

"I forgot to tell you something earlier. I'm coming for a few days back after visiting Glory. I'll be here for your hatching day!" Qibli announced, enthused.

"Great! Dont be extravagant on your present, please," requested Moon.

"Who says I'm giving you a gift?" the SandWing grinned.

"Qibli!" Moon responded, slightly flustered. _Hey joking idiot, watch out,_ Moon thought, plotting. The NightWing reached her tail out to twine with her boyfriend's, and Qibli maneuvered his tail so the barb was positioned a certain way.

"No," the NightWing said, interning her tail , "I need to know how to twine our tails without your help. You always position the barb a certain way, so I never get to know how to do it on my own."

Qibli chuckled, "Okay, okay. I bend my tail right here," he gestured at a spot 3/4 down the tail, "which moves the barb away from yours."

Moon tried twining and retwining their tails, but she was never able to do it. "Fine, you win here." Suddenly, she caught Qibli off-guard and smacked him playfully in the face with her tail.

"And you won here. Even, I suppose," the SandWing grinned. "I will be back soon, but do you want to go by the lake anyway?"

"Of course." The two walked out of the cave, telling Lynx where they were going. They strode past the library, through a crowdedness prey center, and to the lakes.

The SeaWings used the two biggest ones, but there were 3 other, smaller ones. Moon led Qibli to the one looking up at the sky.

She curled up half-in half-out of the water. "Wanna swim?"

Qibli blushed saying, "You know I'm terrible at swimming." **-p sure its "blushed" not "flushed" because embarrassment**

"But you lived at an oasis!"

"We've gone over this! The oasis is for drinking!"

"Okay. I'll just swim in the lake, relaxing, while you cower at the edges." _I bet I can get him in if I put it like this. He'll probably outsmart me out of swimming, though._

 _"_ I'll wade," he announced as he waded into the lake. Moon swam over and joined him.

"You will swim soon, or at least float. I'm genuinely surprised that you haven't even tried to learn how to swim." Moon speculated.

"Because I live in a desert where there _isn't_ water."

"Okay. put out your wings so they are touching the water but not in them," Moon instructed while Qibli tried to follow.

"I'm bigger than you. How am I supposed to do it without bending my wings at an extremely awkward angle? Do I bend my knees, or is that not allowed?"

"Yes you bend your knees. Now walk behind me." Moon moved forward so Qibli had space. "Put your tail out as if you're flying, after the next step. Not now, though."

"Now, walk off after I do. Move your talons frantically, paddling. Yes, you have to walk off."

Moon pushed off the ground, bringing her to the near-middle of the lake. "It's called scavenger paddling. Not real swimming, but it works." She then laughed as Qibli struggled.

"Okay, I can do this now, can we be done? Thanks, bye." Qibli paddled as fast as he could (which was about average at best) over to the shore. Moon followed him, sighing.

The two shook the water off them like scrolls off shelves during an earthquake. _Interesting expression,_ she told herself.

Moon walked off to a small area with grass, lay down, and gestured for Qibli to join her. The SandWing followed the NightWing and plonked on the ground, rather loudly. "So, what do you wanna talk about?" Moon inquired.

"Well.." After a _go on_ gesture from Moon, he continued, "I know this is probably what is considered a date, but I really just wanna walk around and talk to Ostrich and Pronghorn and Kinkajou and Turtle. With you, obviously, but I wanna talk to them before I leave."

Moon mentally slapped herself. "Sorry, I should've realized. Let's go then."

The two walked over to the music room, where Qibli insisted Ostrich was. The SandWing had been right, as Ostrich was in a conversation with Pronghorn and Xerocole, although it seemed Pronghorn was doing most of the talking. He soon noticed the pair standing in the doorway, and pointed at the two who were facing away. "Hi, Qibli. Welcome back!"

"Hey. Nice to see you all. What were you talking about?" Qibli asked.

"Oh, we we're trying to play multiple instruments at the same time. I'm organizing it, or trying to. The end result is going to sound either terrible or great. Wanna help?" Pronghorn answered. "Ostrich has drums and the maracas, I have the bass string and the chimes, Xerocole is playing the flute."

"No thanks, we're good. I just wanted to tell Ostrich," he turned toward her, "that her father is doing fine, and seems to have became friends with Smolder lately. But thank you for the offer."

"So much for talking to them," Moon scoffed.

"Yeah. Lets find Turtle."

"I saw him earlier, in the art cave. I wonder what he's doing in there. Illustrating for a book, I guess?" Turtle had started writing, a trait he inherited from his mother. The stories were short, but good. He liked to have pictures on his scrolls, but couldn't draw too well, so he had asked Boto, a surprisingly good artist once he had actually tried it, to do the illustrations. Boto left a few months ago, however, because Queen Glory liked his artistry enough to recruit him as an artist for all the new scrolls the RainWings were making for their population to be educated. Even though there were ample phonetic scrolls, the tribe was still not the best, and needed illustrations to go with the history scrolls, which had little to none. This situation had forced turtle to learn how to draw well.

"Off to the art cave, then."

There they found an extremely frustrated Turtle. "This is IMPOSSIBLE. How can you draw a SkyWing?"

"Well, I personally don't draw. Not my forte. Maybe Moon can help." Qibli shoved the NightWing forward.

"Whoa, what have you been doing? Their heads are shorter, and their horns don't stick practically UP. Let me show you." Grabbing a pencil, she erased the horns and the bottom line of the snout, then adjusted both. "There."

"Okay, thanks. Why did you actually come in here?"

"To say hello."

"Okay, I can't exactly do that right now, though, because I'm trying to draw a stupid SkyWing bust that doesn't look too much at all like a SkyWing."

"Bye, then. Come to us if you need help."

"Bye."

After they had walked out, Qibli remarked, "Well, that was welcoming. Wonder what's up."

"He's just irritated in general because Kinkajou has made it Annoy Turtle Day. Don't exactly know why."

"Interesting. Sorry to end this a bit soon, but I need to get to bed early for my flight tomorrow."

"Sure, don;t want to hold up the meeting with Glory. See ya tomorrow."

They trudged next to each other until the main cave, then split ways to their own bedrooms. Kinkajou was already asleep, as were about half of the academy. Another quarter was still in bed, thinking nervous thoughts or daydreaming, _well, actually nightdreaming, I suppose._ The other quarter wasn't in bed at all. Mire was among them, as her reed bed was unoccupied.

Moon plopped onto her moss bed, about to try to fall asleep, but then she noticed something.

Beyaz and Xerocole were up, slowly sneaking over to Arid's, Barracuda's, and Garnet's cave. Peregrine was coming toward the cave from a different direction. Each one was thinking of a different dragon in the cave.

Moon decided to latch onto Peregrine's mind. It was a skill she discovered not too long ago. She could see through the dragon's own eyes.

As the three met up at the entrance to the cave, Peregrine muttered, "Kinda nervous about this."

"Me too."

"I have to agree with you."

They slowly and silently crept into the room. Peregrine headed toward Barracuda, Xerocole toward Garnet, and Beyaz toward Arid. They stood looking at the dragonets they crept toward, waiting for a signal from the other. Xerocole spun his tail in a circle, then tapped Alba on the shoulder.

Garnet groaned, "Arid, go away. I don't WANT to g- wait, Xero? What are you doing here?" She looked around and saw the other dragons. "Why are they here? An answer?"

"Inna minute. Just let me sit on your ledge with you." Garnet moved over for Xerocole to sit.

Peregrine went next. _It's fine. Suppress the nervousness._ Tapping Barracuda lightly on her wings, he said, "Good morning, Barracuda. Time to get up."

"Okay, Garnet. Wait, you aren't Garnet. What's going on?"

"We'll tell you in a minute, after we wake up Arid."

Last, Beyaz patted Arid on the head, which both Peregrine and Moon thought simultaneously was odd. "Arid, get up. We need to explain something."

"Nooo lemme sleeep," she groaned, turning her back to Beyaz. "Laaater."

"No," Beyaz responded, tugging her wing, "Get up."

"If it gets you to stop pulling and poking. And what do have to say to us?"

"We'll each explain separately."

Peregrine turned toward Barracuda. "We each wanted to ask you out, so we reasoned, 'Why not do it like this.' I have this-" the SkyWing turned his head around for something on his back. He reached it with his tail. It was a circlet, made of something shiny and grey. "I know you cant wear it while swimming, but you'd look great out of the water, at least." Peregrine had just now noticed that Barracuda's face had gotten progressively redder as he talked.

"I don't know what to say. And not in the cheesy, shocked way. I have no idea how to word my answer." Peregrine's heart dropped at that statement. _Oh no, she's going to try and reject me._

Still though, the SkyWing forced a smile and offered. "All you need to do is say yes or no. Or maybe, if you actually need to. Please answer."

Barracuda sat down, weighing her options. She occasionally glanced at Peregrine, then at her claws, which she was numbering on, and a few times at Arid and Garnet. "Yes. But I want our friendship to grow as much or almost as much as it would if there was no romance involved. We're moving slowly. Okay?"

The SkyWings heart was trying to burst out of his chest. A smile he knew must have been huge appeared, and he said, "Okay. It's settled then."

Moon, like Peregrine, was also smiling. She hadn't known that Xero and Beyaz would actually go through and try ask. Moon knew Peregrine well enough to know he would have told Barracuda sometime soon. These were the things that Kinkajou loved about school. _Kinkajou!_ She had to tell her! But then, she had to see how Garnet and Arid had responded.

Moon tuned back into Peregrine, who was looking at Garnet. She had said not until she actually knew him well.

Arid, however, had agreed immediately, and was now avidly discussing the techniques for the knives Beyaz had given her. Out of the three (two?) relationships, Moon could safely assume that this one would have the most physical one (in theway that they'd practice fighting a lot and the other way..).

"Kinkajou! Wake up!"

"Whaaat?"

"Peregrine, Xero, and Beyaz asked out Barracuda, Garnet, and Arid!"

"Great! Beyaz has been especially grumpy lately, I guess that will help him cheer up. Wait, how did they respond?"

"Arid and Barracuda were yeses, Garnet needed to know Xerocole better."

"Okay, Okay. See you in the morning, because I'm going back to bed."


End file.
